Category Archives: parenting

I have STEM religion now. I have heard the facts, been working with the experts, and now I am fully on board. A couple of years ago, I didn’t know what STEM meant (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) and I certainly didn’t get why it was becoming such a buzz topic. Now I get it. The […]

Over the holidays I spent some quality (and quantity) time with my teenagers and I learned some millennial media lessons – but as a user and not just as a trend observer. My top 4 media lessons? 1) Binge watching shows – why wade through commercials or wait 7 days for the next installment of a […]

Heavy makeup, curled hair, bedazzled dresses. I gape as my soccer-gear- wearing daughter appears transformed into a curious mix between an Irish Step Dancer and a low rent hooker. And she doesn’t even seem to mind! In fact, on a Saturday morning she and her contemporaries are gussied up and on a bus at the […]

I have been keenly aware lately of the rise in kids food allergies and issues. It is quite commonplace in the hoard of roving kids that move through our house to have peanut, wheat, and dairy allergies. Now, it does not outweigh the 14 year olds who are shoving fist-fulls of dry breakfast cereal in […]

Am I the last person to know about the Kahn Academy? This is the most brilliant website ever! I am not ashamed to admit that my kids’ math classes have surpassed my memory of quadratic equations and plotting algebraic charts. So where do I tell them to go when they’re stumped with their homework? To […]

As I Googled “Worst Mom Ever” hoping I don’t show up on page 1, I was filled with relief. Not only am I not named, but the honor goes to a woman named Lenore Skenazy. So I read to see what Lenore’s deal is, only to find – She’s MY NEW HERO! Lenore has coined the […]

I am a big fan of the international play date! I just shipped my 13 year old off to Paris for her first French Play Date with the Bannelier family. And its about time! My son and the oldest Bannelier boy have been swapping summer play dates since they were 11 years old. They are […]

I thought we may have passed the stage where coloring Easter Eggs was a “Must Do”. But I thought wrong! The kids freaked at the suggestion of skipping the whole stinky mess. So we trooped out, bought the eggs and the Paas dye, and went to town. It was a classic afternoon, and […]

Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, Reverent. I wish more people had that as their personal mission statement! The Boy Scouts do. I mean, its hard enough to try to live up to all those adjectives, but to be cheerful on top of it all? That’s seriously tough. The only thing […]

It’s 80 degrees in the Chicago area and its still only April! This is tantamount to a national holiday. We’ve busted out the shorts and tees and everyone is outside enjoying the weather – well, almost everyone. I have the bevvy of sulky tween girls hanging here who are “bored” and “will maybe just watch a […]